View source for Rowley Regis

{{Short description|Town in the West Midlands, England}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name            = Rowley Regis
| country                  = England
| region                   = West Midlands
| population               = 50,257
| population_ref           = <small>([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011]])</small>{{efn|name=population|Combined figure for Blackheath, Cradley Heath & Old Hill, and Rowley wards.<ref name="SandwellTrends">{{cite web|title=Census 2011 Key Stats|url=http://www.sandwelltrends.info/lisv2/navigation/keystats.asp|work=Sandwell Trends|publisher=Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council|access-date=2 July 2013}}</ref>}}
| os_grid_reference        = SO9687
| coordinates              = {{coord|52.488|N|2.05|W|display=inline,title}}
| post_town                = CRADLEY HEATH
| postcode_area            = B
| postcode_district        = B64
| post_town1               = ROWLEY REGIS
| postcode_area1           = B
| postcode_district1       = B65
| dial_code                = 0121
| dial_code1               = 01384
| constituency_westminster = [[Halesowen and Rowley Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Halesowen and Rowley Regis]]
| metropolitan_borough     = [[Sandwell]]
| metropolitan_county      = [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]
| static_image_name        = St Giles, Rowley Regis.jpg
| static_image_caption     = St Giles' Church, parish church of Rowley Regis
}}

'''Rowley Regis''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|aʊ|l|i|_|ˈ|r|iː|dʒ|ᵻ|s}} {{respell|ROW|lee|_|REE|jis}}) is a town and former [[municipal borough]] in [[Sandwell]] in the county of the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]], England. It forms part of the area immediately west of [[Birmingham]] known as the [[Black Country]] and encompasses the four Sandwell council wards of [[Blackheath, West Midlands|Blackheath]], Cradley Heath and Old Hill, [[Tividale]] and Rowley.<ref>{{cite web|title=About|url=http://www.rowleyregis.com/about|work=I love Rowley Regis|publisher=rowleyregis.com|access-date=9 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Rowley Regis Town Profile|url=https://www.sandwelltrends.info/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/09/Rowley-Regis-Town-Profile-September-2022.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawIoXYBleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYp9i-BmM4tb5zStMH-Q55nKbkoGedrWHpQpD9dY2WvQJ3uMfjXB7nLQCg_aem_iyF1MG2LvNe69QCZEO1r0g|work=Research Sandwell: Rowley Regis Town Profile|access-date=23 February 2025}}</ref> At the 2011 census, the combined population of these wards was 50,257.<ref name="SandwellTrends"/>

==History==
{{See also|History of Staffordshire}}
The history of Rowley Regis can be traced back to the 12th century,<ref>{{cite web|title=Rowley Timeline|url=http://rowleyvillage.webs.com/rowleytimeline.htm|publisher=Rowley Village and Rowley Regis|access-date=9 October 2012}}</ref> when a small village grew around the parish church of St Giles, {{convert|2|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} southeast of [[Dudley]]. Rowley was part of the Royal hunting grounds – Regis was added to the name of Rowley in around 1140 to signify it was that part of Rowley belonging to the King. 

Along with the rest of the [[Black Country]], Rowley Regis began to see substantial development in the early to mid-19th century. Coal was mined at the Earl of Dudley's Ramrod Colliery from 1855, at Rowley Hall Colliery from 1865 and at Bell End Colliery off Mincing Lane. The three collieries were connected by mineral tramway to the Causeway Green branch canal at Titford. All had ceased operation by 1920.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chapman |first=N A |date=1999 |title=The Rowley Hall Colliery, Rowley Regis, Staffordshire |url=https://www.nmrs.org.uk/assets/pdf/BM63/BM63-64-73-rowley.pdf |journal=British Mining |publisher=The Northern Mine Research Society |volume=63}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Coalmines in Oldbury |url=http://www.historyofoldbury.co.uk/articles/article009%20-%20mining/OLDBURY%20COAL%20MINES%20PLOTTED%20ON%201904%20MAP%20low%20res%20for%20webside.pdf |access-date=20 May 2023 |website=historyofoldbury.co.uk}}</ref>

In 1933, Rowley Regis became a borough, and incorporated the communities of [[Blackheath, West Midlands|Blackheath]], [[Old Hill]], and [[Cradley Heath]]. These places were all within the ancient parish of Rowley Regis, which (despite being in the county of [[Staffordshire]]) was in the [[Anglican Diocese of Worcester|diocese of Worcester]]. The parish contained the manors of Rowley Regis and Rowley Somery, the latter being part of the barony of Dudley, but the extents of these manors and the relationship between them are not clear. Around the time that Rowley Regis became a borough, housebuilding accelerated in both the public and private sectors.

The present [[Saint Giles|St Giles]] Church on Church Road is not the original church in Rowley Regis. The church built in 1840 to succeed the original mediaeval building, was found to be unsafe and condemned in 1900.  The next church, built in 1904, was burned down in 1913, some believing the fire to have been started by [[Suffragette movement|Suffragettes]] or local striking steelworkers; this however is supposition and it was more than probable it was a simple accident, the church at this time using paraffin as a means of lighting and the latter perhaps causing the fire. Its present-day successor was designed by [[Holland W. Hobbiss]] and [[A. S. Dixon]], and was built in 1923.<ref>''The Buildings of England: Worcestershire'', Nikolaus Pevsner, 1963 p89</ref>

[[File:H Doulton Rowley Regis brick.jpg|thumb|left|Brick made by H Doulton & Co. of Rowley Regis, displayed in the [[:en:Black Country Living Museum|Black Country Living Museum]]]]
[[Rowley Regis railway station]] opened in 1867 in the south of the then village, and remains in use to this day.

The new Rowley Regis grammar school was opened on Hawes Lane in September 1962. Well-known former pupils include Pete Williams (original bass player with [[Dexys Midnight Runners]]), and actress [[Josie Lawrence]]. From September 1975, when comprehensive schools became universal in the new borough of Sandwell, the grammar school became Rowley Regis Sixth Form College, the last intake of grammar school pupils having been inducted the previous year. The younger pupils were distributed between local comprehensive schools.

In September 2003, it became an annexe of [[Dudley College]], but this arrangement lasted just one year before the buildings fell into disuse. It was demolished three years later, and the site was redeveloped as the new Rowley Learning Campus under Sandwell's [[Building Schools for the Future]] programme,<ref>Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council: Building Schools for the Future www.bsf.sandwell.gov.uk</ref> comprising [[St Michael's Church of England High School, Rowley Regis|St Michael's Church of England High School]], Westminster Special School, and Whiteheath Education Centre, which opened in September 2011.
{{clear}}

{{Infobox former subdivision

<!-- Header -->
| Name                = Rowley Regis
| subdivision_type    = [[Municipal borough]]
| AltName             = Borough of Rowley Regis
| image               = Cradley Heath Council House 01.jpg
| image_size          = 250px
| image_caption       = Former Rowley Regis Council House (1937–2012)

<!-- History -->
| preceded_by         = [[Sanitary district]]
| Start               = 1894
| End                 = 1966
| Replace             = [[County Borough of Warley]]

<!-- Demography -->
| PopulationFirst     = 37,000<ref>{{cite web|title=Rowley Regis UD/MD through time - Population Statistics - Total Population|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10062044/cube/TOT_POP|website=A Vision of Britain through Time|publisher=GB Historical GIS/University of Portsmouth|access-date=15 April 2017}}</ref>
| PopulationFirstYear = 1911
| PopulationLast      = 48,146
| PopulationLastYear  = 1961

<!-- Governance -->
| Status              = [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban district]]<br/>(1894-1933)<br/>[[Municipal borough]]<br/>(1933-1966)
| Government          = Rowley Regis Borough Council
| Arms                = [[Image:Rowley Regis Municipal Borough Coat of Arms.png|150px]]
| arms_caption        = Arms of Rowley Regis Borough Council
| Motto               = <em>"Loyal and Industrious"</em>
| HQ                  = Council House, Old Hill
}}

===Civic history===
{{See also|Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries since 1844#West Midlands Order 1965|History of Worcestershire#Twentieth century, 1914-2000}}
Originally in Staffordshire, the Rowley Regis Urban District was formed in 1894 to cover the villages of Rowley, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, and Old Hill. The urban district was [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] into a municipal borough in 1933.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/info/200111/records_and_archives/595/our_collections/2|title = Archive catalogues &#124; Our collections &#124; Sandwell Council}}</ref> Following the acquisition of borough status, plans were unveiled to build new council offices in the borough to replace the existing offices in Lawrence Lane, Old Hill. A site on the corner of Halesowen Road and Barrs Road was selected. Work commenced in October 1937, and the building was opened by the Mayor of Rowley Regis in December 1938. Birmingham's ''Evening Despatch'' newspaper described the building as "spacious, imposing and distinctly modern".<ref>{{cite news |title=Mayor of Rowley Regis opens new £32,000 civic centre |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000671/19381217/007/0007 |access-date=14 April 2023 |work=The Dudley Chronicle |date=17 December 1938 |issue=14808 |page=7 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>   

[[File:The local government structure within the Black Country (Pre-1966).png|thumb|The local government structure within North Worcestershire and South Staffordshire – Prior to the ''West Midlands Order 1965'' reorganisation]]

On 1 April 1966, the borough of Rowley Regis merged with the boroughs of [[Oldbury, West Midlands|Oldbury]] and [[Smethwick]] to form the [[County Borough of Warley|Warley County Borough]],<ref name="VoB Census Tables">{{cite web|title=Rowley Regis UD/MB Through Time – Census tables with data for the Local Government District|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10062044|website=A Vision of Britain through Time|publisher=GB Historical GIS/University of Portsmouth|access-date=15 April 2017}}</ref> part also went to the [[County Borough of West Bromwich]], the [[County Borough of Dudley]] and the Municipal Borough of [[Halesowen]], Rowley Regis became part of [[Worcestershire]]. The merger was unpopular with many residents and derided by some as 'Warley white elephant'.<ref name="Chitham">{{cite book |last1=Chitham |first1=Edward |title=Rowley Regis : a history |date=2006 |publisher=Phillimore |location=Chichester, West Sussex, England |isbn=1860774180 |page=122}}</ref> The parish was also abolished on 1 April 1966 to form [[Warley, West Midlands|Warley]], part also went to West Bromwich, Dudley and Halesowen.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/rowley%20regis.html|title=Rowley Regis Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=4 October 2024}}</ref> In 1961 the parish had a population of 48,146.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10292219/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Rowley Regis Ch/CP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=4 October 2024}}</ref>

In 1974, Warley merged with [[West Bromwich]] to form [[Sandwell|Sandwell Metropolitan Borough]] in the new county of [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]].

Following the demise of Rowley Regis as a standalone borough in 1966, the council offices in Barrs Road were retained by Warley council and then by Sandwell council. However, a plan was submitted in July 2012 by Sandwell Leisure Trust to demolish the buildings to make way for an expansion to the neighbouring Haden Hill Leisure Centre, and the development of a new fire station.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/local/9805928.Application_submitted_to_demolish_Cradley_Heath_Municipal_Buildings/|title=Application submitted to demolish Cradley Heath Municipal Buildings}}</ref>

The archives for Rowley Regis Borough are held at [[Sandwell Community History and Archives Service]].

==Geography==
[[File:Turner's Hill - geograph.org.uk - 369602.jpg|right|thumb|[[Turners Hill, West Midlands|Turner's Hill]], the highest point in the West Midlands]]
Rowley Regis is the location of the [[Rowley Hills]], famed for the quarrying of [[Rowley Rag]] Stone. The hills form part of the east/west [[Drainage divide|watershed]] between the rivers [[River Trent|Trent]] and [[River Severn|Severn]],<ref>{{cite web|title=The Rowley Hills|url=http://www.bbcwildlife.org.uk/rowley_map|publisher=Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust|access-date=6 April 2013}}</ref> and contain the highest point in the West Midlands region, [[Turners Hill, West Midlands|Turner's Hill]], at 269m above sea level.<ref>{{cite web|title=West Midlands|url=http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Destinations/Search-Results/UK/England/Heart-of-England/West-Midlands/|work=Destinations|publisher=Live for the Outdoors|access-date=6 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101151457/http://www.livefortheoutdoors.com/Destinations/Search-Results/UK/England/Heart-of-England/West-Midlands/|archive-date=1 November 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

A feature in ''[[The Birmingham Post]]'' of 10 November, 1952 describes Rowley Regis as a "Town in Tiers"; the explanation being that Cradley Heath and Old Hill lie in a valley, Blackheath is "the next step up" followed by a further climb up to Rowley parish church and up and over the Rowley Hills to Tividale.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rowley Regis and Blackheath |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000619/19521110/004/0004 |access-date=14 April 2023 |work=The Birmingham Post |date=10 November 1952 |page=4 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> 

===Localities (former borough of Rowley Regis)===
* [[Blackheath, West Midlands|Blackheath]]
* [[Cradley Heath]]
* [[Haden Hill]]
* [[Old Hill]]
* Rowley Village
* Whiteheath

==Notable residents==

* [[John Haden Badley]] (1865–1967), centenarian and founder of [[Bedales]] School grew up spending time at his family's country home "Foxcote" and visiting his uncle and cousins at [[Haden Hill]].
*[[Josie Lawrence]] (born 1959), actress, was educated at Rowley Regis Grammar School (1970–75).
*[[Scott Liam Malone]] (born 1991), professional footballer.
*[[Carlton Palmer]] (born 1965), former footballer who played for the [[England national football team|England team]] as well as clubs including [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]], [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] and [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]].
* [[George Smith (hangman)|George Smith]] (1805–1874), [[executioner]], period in office 1849–1872.
* [[James Woodhouse (poet)|James Woodhouse]] (1735–1820), poet, born in Rowley Regis, known as the "cobbler poet".<ref name="Staffordshire Worthies">{{cite book |last1=Hackwood |first1=Frederick William |title=Staffordshire Worthies |date=1911 |publisher=Chronicle Press |location=Stafford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924013350438/page/n90 83]-87 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924013350438 |access-date=4 February 2019}}</ref>

==See also==

*[[Regis (place)]]
*[[List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{NIE Poster}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Rowley, William |volume= XXI |last=|first= |author-link=| page=33 |short=1}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090531073207/http://www.bsf.sandwell.gov.uk/ Sandwell BSF]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090228182222/http://blackcountrygob.com/ Community Forum for Rowley Regis]}}

{{West Midlands County}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Rowley Regis| ]]
[[Category:Towns in the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:Sandwell]]